City isn't to blame for Growlers departure, St. John's councillor says
Meanwhile, new numbers reveal city paid DSE $600K for wrongful eviction in 2021
A St. John's city councillor is firing back at the owner of the Newfoundland Growlers, saying the city-owned St. John's Sports and Entertainment isn't to blame for the team's departure.
St. John's businessman Dean MacDonald told reporters Wednesday his professional hockey team failed largely because of his inability to work with city officials on a plan to control the arena.
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, Ron Ellsworth, the council representative of St. John's Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Mary Brown's Centre, disagreed with the notion that MacDonald's group needed to run the arena in order to make things work.
"His illusion was that he needed to be able to manage the facility in order to make his operation go well. Well, that didn't work very well in Trois-Rivières, right?" Ellsworth said.
MacDonald also owned the ECHL's Trois-Rivières Lions and controlled the arena they operate in. Reports surfaced last week that the team was also in financial trouble, but MacDonald was able to sell the team.
"He had one agreement here with us where he wasn't managing the facility. In Trois-Rivières, he was managing the facility. Trois-Rivières was out over a million dollars because of that arrangement. We don't have that issue," Ellsworth said, adding the city is on the hook for about $70,000.
Ellsworth said other professional hockey teams were able to make their time in St. John's work despite not owning the arena — citing the former St. John's IceCaps team owned by Danny Williams.
The IceCaps held attendance records in the American Hockey League during their time in the city but left when their parent hockey clubs in the NHL wanted them to be closer to home.
"If one proponent can make it work in that environment, why can't the other one make it work in that environment?" Ellsworth asked.
The loss of the Growlers represents the loss of 36 entertainment nights in the St. John's area. Ellsworth said the team contributed about $75,000 to SJSE's bottom line last year, but added that could be recuperated by just two concerts at the Mary Brown's Centre.
The real challenge, he said, will be the impact on local businesses and quality of life for residents.
"It's more about the entertainment nights than the result for the bottom line," he said.
"I'm very happy with the [SJSE] team that we have in place between the board, staff and senior staff to take on any challenges to fill up the stadium when it comes to entertainment nights."
Ellsworth didn't rule out the return of pro hockey in the future, saying the city has a great relationship with the ECHL.
Amounts paid following Growlers eviction released
Ellsworth called Thursday's news conference following the release of financial figures related to the Growlers' controversial eviction from Mary Brown's Centre in 2021.
The team was evicted for three weeks and played games in Conception Bay South before returning to St. John's. The eviction was connected to a series of workplace harassment complaints, with Ellsworth saying the move was made to create a safer workplace for employees.
MacDonald's group, Deacon Sports and Entertainment, filed for arbitration over the issue, and it was later determined the eviction was in violation of their lease agreement.
The city and Deacon reached a $1.29-million resolution agreement at the time, which included $600,000 paid to Deacon Sports and Entertainment for the wrongful eviction.
The rest of the money went to cover the installation of new LED signage in the arena — which cost $546,272 — and a third-party payment of $291,272. The signage was initially meant to be cost-shared between the two sides, but Ellsworth said the city decided to buy out Deacon's stake to avoid them having ownership of an asset inside the arena.
Additional payments were also made for the arena's naming rights.
Ellsworth said the figures couldn't be released at the time due to privacy concerns involving a third party, but a Supreme Court judge ordered the figures be released in March. The deadline for the release was Monday.
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With files from Jeremy Eaton